Thursday 30 November 2017

“Boss” vs “Leader”

Over time I’ve been able to observe others and myself in leadership positions.  As time went on, I learned to understand the difference between a “Boss” and a “Leader” as well as that, at times, it’s actually necessary for us to be a boss rather than a leader.

I see plenty of infographics which describe the difference between “bosses” and “leaders”.  These usually suggest that it’s better not to be a “boss” as this character tends to “lead from behind”, “tell” rather than “sell” and all sorts of activities that we generally don't like.

Skilful people know when to be which.  In times of crisis, when swift action is required to avert a disaster, the “boss” style is needed as we don't have the time or luxury to get into long discussions.  Yes, this may mean that the top person makes the wrong decisions, and the disaster they were trying to avert actually happens instead due to their poor reading of the situation, but sometimes a decision is better than no decision at all.

We’ve seen enough instances of that, but let’s take an extreme situation of a military patrol in hostile territory coming under fire.  In these circumstances, training takes over and the patrol sergeant or officer will normally read the situation in seconds tell the rest of the patrol what to do in no uncertain terms based on what they learnt both on training and from experience in similar situations in the past.

They only have seconds (if that) to read the situation, react, form a plan and execute it.  If they get it right, everyone walks away (except the “bad guys”).  If they don’t, it may mean the loss of the patrol.

In the current age, my observation is that most cultures prefer the “leader” style, the one who “sells” and who says “follow me” rather than “do as I say”.  Experiments have shown that group discussion and decision-making tends to produce better results than one individual taking decisions in isolation.  If you want proof, try an exercise called “Lost at Sea”.

We prefer those who take the time to get to understand us as people rather than employees.  Leaders who understand this tend to get better performance out of their teams. 

I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. After more than 20 years in the global financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.


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Monday 27 November 2017

Whatever Works for You

I was leading a Time Management workshop last week and we were discussing the various tools people use.  One delegate asked me what I’d recommend and my answer was “Whatever works for you.”

The key is whatever works.  We’re all different, have different ways of doing things, processing information, making decisions, so why should managing time be any different?

Over 25 years, I’ve seen and tried a number of techniques from simple “To Do Lists” to Franklin-Covey to Microsoft Outlook to bullet journaling.  All have their place and work well for different individuals.

Some have been more trouble (to me) than they’re worth.  Others “came and went” – I could take them or leave them and in some cases I left them as I didn't see that they were adding any real value to me.

Just as some people prefer one brand of tool over another, or some athletes “swear by” a particular brand of clothing or equipment, the same applies to time management techniques and tools.  The only thing we can do is try them and see what they do for us.  If we see a measurable improvement for comparatively little effort, it’s worth continuing to use them.

Find out what works for you and use it.  If, after a while (or several years) it’s no longer working as well (or at all), drop it.  Just like clothing and equipment can wear out, so can time management techniques, especially in our modern world where the pace of change only seems to be increasing.



I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world  running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

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